Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-01-22
THE 100000 sAe'sD CHARMS.
The superstitious but ulimitable Faith
of the Negroes in Their Virtue.
NO. 10.

OF the Negroes In Their virtue
A voodoo bag is an amulet which calls
up and impresses in its deep significance
the superstitious fears. breads and hopes
of the southern negro. tits his guard
against all ills of flesh and fortune. In
appearance voodoo bag is aifiat, rough
ly made pouch of cotton cloth Stitched
by unskilled hands, its edges are uneven
and raw. From being suspended around
the neck in its contact.w the skin for
365 days Of the year, and, in the case of
the one which was seen by a. reporter'
for twenty-eight years, the surfaces had
become begrimed and greasy. A cord
of cotton rudely knotted held the charm
in position and was like it soiled from
age.
=. It was with SONS feeling and only IN
response to repeated and eager inquiry
that the lucky possessor of the charm, a
negro roustabout, who for many years,
''Sence befo' de wah, had been working
on the river, consented to allow its ex-
animation. He would not part with it
under any consideration.
Without any difficulty the pouch was
opened at the top and an inventory of
the contents made. A wisp of hair much
resembling that used by plasterers, which
it was finally decided was from dogs
back, came first, closely followed by
lock which had seen service as the cover
ing of cat before it became part of the
protector. A little deeper and chickens
feather, rumpled by contact with piece
of rusty nail and long, sharp tooth,
which had a place in the amulet, was
pulled out. A small piece of paper such
as one would get by tearing off one cor
ner of newspaper, devoid of marks by
pen or pencil, concluded the inventory,
and when each was replaced, the strings
readjusted and reswung to its place on
the breast of the owner, the charm was
to all appearances as good as if it had
just left the hands Of its maker Simply
these and nothing more could be found
in the bag.
Nor were there any evident signs of
arrangement. Rather it seemed the
whole had been jumbled together with
out thought, the doctor being out of q
supply of the other ingredients some
times found in the amulets.
Deed, boss, Use reason to know do
charms all rite. could tell We of many
times it's saved me. Oars wunst when
was at Louisville, three of us niggers
was runnin' along the gunnel of barge
when de line we wascarryin' got cotched
and bot de man in front and de man be-
hind me fell into de rivah and war
drowned'd. Use been through lots o.
sech things and always cum out rite.
Whar did l git it. OATS way back in
Mississippi. When / war chile wuz
sickly, and my dad got it fob to make
me well. Use never been rite sick
sense"
Such is the faith, superstitious but il
limitable, that has taken possession Of
the minds of those of the colored race
who from childhood up have heard such
things spoken of in solemn whispers, in
the half light of a cabin in the evening,
or preached by an old man whose I'M
pressive speech was mixed with meta
phor and bristling with horrible exam
pies which have made the pickaninny
creep to his cot and lie awake half the
night thinking of what he has heard.
1t is growing to be wonder to hear of
colored man who practices or breaches
the voodoo belief. With the education
of the masses it has died out or been con-
signed to the the darkest corners of the
colonies, where its believers are ever in
fear of detection. To the negro whose
lineage goes back to an ancestor who
came from Africa the idolatrous super
stition is more predominant, as he can
see and believe more fully that by the
voodoo rites the gods may be placated.
The powers of the doctor are inherited
from father or mother who was so
gifted, and in the earliest days only
rested with the descendants of one tribe
OF Africans. Since they have been free
these gifted mortals dwelt apart from
their brethren and practiced the black
art in solitude or in the presence only of
the applicant for the exercise of such
power. Into the practice entered all the
favorite and regulation tools of the
magician. The caldron boiling and
seething, the mystic wand and the mys-
ferrous ingredients were there in abund-
ance. The concoctions were not curealls,
but made for specific purpose which
the doctors modesty claimed was always
accomplished.
By the death few years ago of the
queen of the voodoos, who made her
home on the borders of Lake Pontchar-
train, Louisiana, the most notable figure
passed away, and with her many of tn
rites and observances, such as dances, in
which the participants stopped only
from complete exhaustion, public invo-
cations and offerings. -Pittsburg Dis
patch.